Beet pulling and topping machine.



W. BRANDIS.

BBBT PULLING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 9, 1912.

1,1 1 1,210. y Patented sep1:.22,1914.

3 SHEETS- SHEET 1.

@ttor/wup W. BRANDIS.

BEET PULLING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DBG. e, 1912.

1 ,l l 1,210, Patented Sept. 22, 1914 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. Q QF Ica I I aumento?,

.2 d?. am N e@ Q1. f

u x y@ W. BRANDIS. BEET PULLING AND TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9, 1912.

1,1 1 1,21 O, Patented Sept. 22, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

@nue/nto@ WALTER BRANDIS, vor SAN nIEGo, CALIFORNIA.

BEET PULLNG AND TOPPING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' sept. 2,2', 1914.

Application led lDecember 9, 1912. Serial No. 735,778.

To all whom t ma concern.' l

Be -it knownt at I, WALTER BRANDIs, a citizen of the United States, vresiding at San Diego, in the county of San'Diego and State of California, have invented certain new7 and usefullmprovements in Beet Pulling and Topping -Machinesg and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which -it A appertains to make and use the same.

.This invention relates to improvements in beet pulling and topping machines.

'A .One object ofthe invention isito provide a machine of this charactervhaving an improved means for pulling and conveying the beets rearwardly and holding the same 1n position tobe engaged by the rotar knife of the machine which severs .the ops at the properv place orimmediately' above the roots'.

Another Objectis-to provide a machine of this character which will be simple, stron and durable in construction, eiicient an .reliable in operation and which is provided with means for raisin and vlowering the forward endof the mac ine and forraising and'lowering the plow.

VVlith these and other objects in view,fthe invention consists of certain novel features gf construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure" 1 .is a side view .of my beet pulling and topping machine; :Fig y2 1s an irregular vertical longitudinal V.sectional view .thereof -taken on the Vline 2-2of Fig. 3; Fig. 3 1s a plan viewof the,v machine; -Fig. 4 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on the *line/1 4 faFig. 2; Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view o f one of the supporting brackets for the front operating gears of thebeet pulling kand conveying chains; Fig.`

' in .which the 4latter is geared to and driven by said chain operating gear; Fig. 8 is a plan 4view of ,two of the links .of-the beet Vpullingiand conveyingchains; fFig. 9,is=an inner side view of threei of thellinks-wofthe chain.

My improved .beet pullingand to ping machine comprises a main supporting, rame 1 which may be offany suitable' form and which is preferably constructed infthe form shown vin Fig. -3 ofthe drawings. Th frame 1 is supported at its rear end on a rear axle 2 on the ends of which are fixed rear su porting wheels 3. The forward end of the rame is supported on right angularly shaped axles comprising short spindles 4 on which are revolubly mounted the front wheels 5 of the machine. -On the inner ends of the spindles are formed upwardly eX- tendingstandards to which the forward end of the frame is slidably and adjustably .secured bymeans of clips 71as shown.

Bolted or otherwisevsecuredto lthe front end of the iframe 1 on opposite sides and adjacent to the center thereof arel'forwardly projecting angle :brackets 8 to which are attached the beams 9 and standards .-10 of beet lifting plows l1. The plows 11 are preferably in the form of longitudinally disposed inwardly inclined plates the lower 'edges of which are spacedy a Asuitable distance apart whereby when the plows are drawn-through the furrows on opposite sides of. the rows of beets the latter will'be lifted tfrom or loosened in the. ground. The rea-r ends of the plowblades have secured thereto rearwardly projecting and converging guide rods :12 which also preferably incline upwardly toward their rear ends and which guide'and support theftopscf the beets in positionto be. gripped by 'the pulling and conveying mechamsmhereinafter described. The standards 10.of :the plows `are-slidably attached to they brackets 8 by means of a bolt 13 which isengaged withsaid brackets and 4`with curved `slots 14 formed in th standards.

The :inner ends of the beams and the plowsare adaptedlto be raised and vlowered or adjusted, to cause the plow blades to en- ;ter the ground to a greatexnor'less depth,

by crank arms 15 formed-on and rprojecting forwardly from a rock shaft -16 which isl mounted in suitable bearings on the front end of the frame v1 as shown. -Theouter ends of the crank arms are connected by short links .17 -to ythe-'zupper ends ofthe standards .10 and'zxed .on therock shaft 16 lis' a hand 'lever 18 .which fprojects :rearioo . wardly Vand carries a pawl 19 adapted to*be engaged with the teeth of a segmental rack 20 secured to one side of the frame l as shown. By thus attaching the plow beam and standards to the frame of the plow and 'to the rock shaft the plow beam and plows may bereadily raised and lowered and supported in their adjusted positions by means of the lever 18 and its locking pawl. The forward end of the frame 1 and the parts carried thereby are also adapted to be raised and, lowered and to be supported in their adjusted positions by means of frame lifting levers21 which are pivotally mounted on suitable brackets 22 and are provided on their inner-ends with crank arms 23. The arms 23 are connected by short links 24 with the upper ends of the standards 6 of the front wheel axles whereby when the levers 21 are operated in the proper direction the frames-l may be raised and lowered at their forward ends on said standard 6 of the axle. The levers 21 are provided withI suit` ,are gripped by a pulling and conveying mechanism comprising a paair of endless chains-27 which are arranged side by side and supported at a suitable angle on front and rear pairsof sprocket gears 28 and 29 whereby the inner or adjacent stretches of the chains co-act to grip and convey the The front beets to' the rear of the machine. sprocket gears 28 arey idle gears and are revolubly mounted on bearing studs or boltsA 30 securedv in apertured lu 31 on the lower ends of right angularly ormed gear supporting'brackets 32 which in turn are secured at their upper ends to the inner sides of the front'portion of the main frame 1 as shown. The rear gears 29 are preferably somewhat larger than the front ears and are revolubly mounted on stud bo ts 33 securedin the forward ends of bearing brackets 34 which are secured to and project inwardly from the rear cross bar of the frame las shown. 'Onthe under sides of the rear sprocket gears 29 are bevel gears 35 with the outer sides of which are operatively enl gaged bevel gears 36 xed on'the rear driving and supporting axle 2 of the machine. .By thus supporting and driving the rear sprocket gears 29 the chains 27 will be operated in the proper direction for ripping and conveying the beets from the ont toward the rear end of the machine.

My improved pulling and conveying chains 27 are constructed of a series of links 37 each of which comprises upper and lower parallel plates 38 one end of which is offset ywhen operating the chains.

inwardly and apertured to fit between the apertured oppositev ends of the plates of the next adjacent link, said apertured ends of the plates being vpivotally connected by rivets or bolts 39 with which the notched teeth of the sprocket gears 28 and 29 are engaged Secured between the plates 38 of the links are be'et top gripping blocks l40 which are formed of rubber or other suitable yielding or resilient material which will firmly grip the tops of the beets when brought into engagement therewith. The bodies of the blocks 40 project beyond the links and the inner stretches of the chains are disposed at such relative positions that the faces of said bodies will vnearly engage and will be brought close enough together to grip the tops of the beet caught between the chains. The bodies of the blocks 40 are of greater length than the link engaging portions thereof andon the inner stretches of the chains the ends of the adjoining bodies will engage one another as shown. The blocks in the links when passing around the sprocket gears with which they are engaged separate slightly and provide spaces which receive the leaves of the'beet tops as the blocks are broughty around the inner sides of the front gears 28, so that when the ends of the blocks come together on. the inner stretches of the chain the leaves between said ends are firmly gripped and pulled out of the ground and from between the guide rods of the plow blades. Any of the leaves of the tops which are not gripped between the ends of the blocks 40S will be caught between the faces of the blocks when .they come to- 0'ether on the inner stretches of the chain, thus rmly holding the beets while they are being conveyed rearwardly-by the chains.

Revolubly mounted in one of the supporting brackets 34 of the rear gears 29 is a rotary beet topping knife 41 comprising -a series of radially projecting blades 42 the beets in such position when brought into engagement with the blades of the knife that the top will be severed immediately above the root, I provide a beet guiding and adjusting mechanism comprising a pair of suitablyspaced rods or bars 45 which are disposed below the inner stretches of the chains 27 and are supported at their for-- ward ends by depending angular brackets I 46 secured at their upper ends to the side barsof'the main frame 1. The rear ends of the bars or rods 45 are extended and secured to the rear cross bar of the frame l in any suitable manner. The space between the rods or bars 45 and the inner stretches of the chains 27 gradually increases from the forward .ends toward the rear ends of said bars and theforward ends of the bars turn outwardly to -a slight extent Vto receive the beets when brought up by the conveyer chains, said rods engaging the' beet top immediately above the root and, owing to the increase of the space between the rods and the chains, the beet is gradually pulled downwardly by the rods so that, when the beet reaches a position to be engaged by the blades of the rotary knife, the top will be severed adjacent to or immediately above the root as is clearly indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended explanation.

Various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacricing any ofthe advantages of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a beet pulling and topping machine, a wheeled supporting frame, beet lifting plows connected therewith, beet pulling and conveying chains comprisinglinks each of which consists of pairs of parallel plates offset inwardly at one end to fit between the ends of the plates of the next adjacent link, said ends having alined apertures, rivets connectino' the apertures, resilient beet top gripping t`blocks secured between the plates of said links and projecting therefrom whereby the inner faces of said blocks are adapted to coact on the inner stretches of the chains to grip the tops of the beets, a

rotar knife in said frame and means to adjust and hold the beets in such position that the tops will be severed by the knife immediately above the roots of the beets.

2. In a beet pulling machine, the combination with the wheeled frame, the digging mechanism, and two pairs of gearsjmounted on the frame; of two endless chains whereof each embraces one pair of gears, the latter being so disposed that the inner stretches of the chains lie parallel close to each other and incline upward and rearward, each chain comprising links consisting of spaced plates riveted in pairs to the plates of the adjacent link, and rubber gripping blocks whosev bodies lie Voutside the hne of said plate. and on the outer side of the chain so that their working faces on the vinner stretches'of said chaln come nearly into contact with each other, the outer portions of said bodies being of reduced length and secured between the plates of the links respect-ively.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' WALTER BRANDIS. Witnesses:

CHAs. T. CHANDLER, E. G. Oris. 

